University of Florida Diabetes Institute

01/07/2026

🎉 Please join us in congratulating Dr. Nadja Makki and Dr. Stephanie Karst, recipients of the 2025 UF Diabetes Institute Seed Grants.

These grants support innovative diabetes research projects designed to generate preliminary data for future external funding. We look forward to seeing the impact of their work on advancing diabetes research at the University of Florida.

12/18/2025

🎄✨ The UFDI team came together to celebrate the season at our holiday party! It was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on a year of collaboration and progress in diabetes research and care. Thank you to everyone who helped make the evening so special!

12/15/2025

🎉 Big congratulations to Dr. Desmond A. Schatz!

Dr. Schatz has been named a 2026 PES Laureate Award recipient, recognizing his outstanding contributions to pediatric endocrinology, research, and leadership.

We’re proud to celebrate this well-deserved achievement and look forward to seeing Dr. Schatz recognized at the 2026 PES Annual Meeting. 🧬

12/15/2025

🧬💡Major news from diabetes research!

Scientists have identified a crucial clue in how Type 1 diabetes begins, before symptoms show, by observing how and which insulin-producing cells are attacked first in the pancreas. This insight moves us closer to earlier detection and smarter intervention strategies.

🔗 Read the full article here:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Type 1 diabetes is a disease in which the body mistakenly attacks itself as the immune system destroys the pancreas’s insulin-producing…

12/13/2025

12/11/2025

📣 We're excited to announce that our very own Leeana Peters, PhD, and Jeremy Newman, PhD, will be competing in the 2025 The Sugar Science Challenge this Friday, December 12th🧬✨!

Their project is exploring how alternative splicing and allele-specific expression contribute to genetic risk in Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). By analyzing single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing data from pancreatic islets and lymph nodes, they’re uncovering novel genetic drivers that could lead to new therapeutic targets.

We’re cheering you on, Leeana and Jeremy!🙌

University of Florida Diabetes Institute The Sugar Science

11/14/2025

Celebrate World Diabetes Day by learning more about the challenges of working with diabetes

11/07/2025

Check out the latest work from and in , describing a novel approach to enhance the protection of stem cell derived pancreatic beta-cells from cytotoxic immune cells using an optimized CD155 protein for replacement therapies by authors , Jessie Barra, thanks to support from . To read more, click here https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx9755

10/29/2025

10/29/2025

This weekend! Join the Florida Diabetes Camp for a 5K color run. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/florida-diabetes-camp-5k-color-run-tickets-1872305539269

07/31/2025

We had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Manuela Battaglia, Managing director at INNODIA in Belgium, for a day of connection and adventure here at the UF Diabetes Institute. What an unforgettable day of exploration, partnership, and shared commitment to advancing type 1 diabetes research!

07/29/2025

With an artisanal approach to multiplex image analysis, KINTSUGI is an open-access instructional protocol in designed for a hands-on user experience! enable parameter tuning and batch processing for illumination correction, stitching, deconvolution, 3D-2D conversion, registration, autofluorescence subtraction, segmentation, feature extraction, phenotyping, and spatial analysis. Featuring UFDI collaborators, Dr. Justin Smith, Drew Bloss, Dr. MacKenzie Williams, Dr. Amanda Posgai, Dr. Todd Brusko, Dr. Mark Atkinson, Dr. Clive Wasserfall, and Dr. Maigan Brusko. Click here to read more
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266616672500382X